Garda sources believe the war will only escalate as different criminal factions are drafted in on both sides.

A source told the Irish Mirror: “This has all the makings of a long and drawn-out affair.

“The Hutch gang will be p****d off the CIRA didn’t protect someone as vulnerable as Eddie.

“The gang has been paying the dissidents for protection ever since Gary was killed.

“So it’s impossible for them to withdraw from the situation the way it is.

"What Eddie Hutch’s killing shows is anyone is a target for the Kinahans.

“Major criminals and their families are now all targets.

“Gardai can only do so much.

"There were checkpoints in the area Eddie Hutch was shot and the shooters managed to get through.”

It has also been claimed drugs gangs here are better resourced than the combined paramilitary groups across the island – both North and South.

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A source said: “They are more professional in nearly every aspect of the business and are equally if not more ruthless.

“And there is so much money washing around the country it’s accepted they’ve members of the authorities on board, including middle-ranking gardai, all of which goes to smooth the path for the big deals and problem solving.

“And while they work as a business, they have used the patterns and enforcement techniques of paramilitary gangs, even down to the misinformation such as claiming a hit was carried out by another faction to take the focus off them.

“There will always be a market for drugs and they have the business up and running in such a manner they are untouchable.”

October 9 2015

November 6 2015

A cousin of 'Fat' Freddie Thompson, escapes without injury after an attempt on his life at the Red Cow Hotel in west Dublin. He was attending a boxing event when a gunman approached him, but the gun jammed and he escaped.

December 11 2015

Derek 'Del Boy' Hutch is again attacked in prison. This time a prisoner attacks him in his cell with a homemade weapon. It was only when two fellow prisoners came to his aid he managed to escape.

December 2015

Close associates of murdered Gary Hutch reportedly reject an offer to meet with Kinahan’s mob to discuss the killing.

February 5 2016

February 8 2016

Eddie Hutch Snr is gunned down at his flat in the North Strand area of Dublin. He worked as a taxi driver and while he was not known as a violent criminal, he was previously convicted for several fraud and theft charges.

March 23, 2016

Well known Dublin-based criminal Noel Duggan is shot dead while getting out of his car outside his home in the Old Mill estate in Ratoath, Co Meath. He was a close friend of Gerry Hutch.